The WHO Western Pacific Region (WPR) and the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) are pleased to announce the 2015-2016 call for applications for the Joint TDR/WPR Small Grants Scheme for implementation research in infectious diseases of poverty.
Deadline for submission: 30 June 2015

Statement by Dr Shin Young-soo WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific for World Malaria Day 2014

24 April 2015 — Regional Office - The WHO Region for the Western Pacific joins Member States and development partners in commemorating World Malaria Day on 25 April. The theme this year is: Invest in the future: Defeat malaria.

MANILA, 27 January 2015 – The National Malaria Control and Elimination Programme of the Department of Health in the Philippines has just launched a case study entitled “Eliminating Malaria: Progress Towards Malaria Elimination in the Philippines". The case study shows how the Philippines have successfully achieved to reduce malaria cases by three quarters from 2000 to 2011, with one third of provinces having eliminated malaria as of 2013. Today, very few people die from malaria in the Philippines.

ERAR emphasizes behavior change communication as an important tool to reach at risk mobile migrant populations

25 September 2014 – La (not his real name), an 18-year-old logger, from Stung Treng province in Cambodia had a close call with death recently in Pathoumphone district of Champasack province in the south of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. His misconception that malaria was caused by drinking contaminated water, which could have been addressed by effective behavior change communication, almost cost him his life.

About the malaria, other vectorborne and parasitic (MVP) diseases unit

MVP is under WHO Western Pacific Region's Division of Communicable Diseases. The unit's key technical areas and responsibilities include malaria, dengue and other arboviruses, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and research into infectious diseases related to poverty. Its goals are to reduce the health burden caused by vectorborne and parasitic diseases and eliminate them, where feasible, through operational research; strengthening surveillance, monitoring and evaluation; ensuring full coverage of diagnosis and treatment especially of at-risk populations; and providing technical guidance to, and cooperating with, Member States.